Yahoo Finance Unilever slashes 1,500 management jobs in wake of failed Glaxo bid
Unilever plans to cut 1,500 management jobs as part of a major overhaul following its failed £50bn bid for GlaxoSmithKline's healthcare division.
The company will abolish about 15pc of senior management roles and 5pc of more junior posts as part of a reorganisation first suggested last week.
Factory jobs are expected to be safe in the shake-up at Unilever, which employs almost 150,000 people globally.
The job cuts come as the FTSE 100 giant faces mounting scrutiny from investors over its strategy in the wake of three rejected offers for the Glaxo unit that owns brands including Sensodyne, Panadol and Centrum.
Analysts described a "torrent of criticism" from shareholders for the approaches, all of which were rejected by Glaxo. Unilever ultimately said it had decided against increasing its offer.
However, pressure has been mounting on Alan Jope, chief executive, to justify the bids that were said to be part of a wider effort by Unilever to focus more on health, beauty and hygiene.
Shares in Unilever jumped on Monday after it emerged that Nelson Peltz's activist hedge fund, Trian Partners, had a stake in the company and could force management to make changes more quickly.
Mr Jope said the company was pushing ahead with a planned reorganisation, splitting the company into five divisions: beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition and ice cream. Each will be responsible for its own strategy and profits.
“Growth remains our top priority and these changes will underpin our pursuit of this,” he added.
The reorganisation, first mooted last week, was part of plans to sell some lower-growth food brands, meaning brands such as Marmite, Ben & Jerry's and Knorr's could all be on the block.
Shares fell almost 1pc to £39.10, valuing the company at just over £100bn.
